1. Place all of the ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure the lid.
2. Select variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 3 minutes or until steam escapes from the vented lid.

Food tip: Using cottage cheese instead of cream, half and half or whole milk makes a richer soup while adding calcium and protein. With the Vitamix there is no need to precook the vegetables so they retain their nutritional values. Canned creamed soups contain added salt, fat and thickeners and only a small amount of vegetables. Using chicken bouillon works well but if you are on a salt restricted diet you will want to use a salt free chicken stock. Homemade stock is always the best and it can be frozen in 1-2 cup portions for easy use.

Money Tip: Fresh celery can cost less than 25 cents a pound and none of the celery needs to go to waste. This size recipe makes 2 quarts (8 servings) and costs less than 50 cents. A can of condensed celery soup (2 servings) costs $1.50 to $2.00 a can.

Time Tip: Instead of taking time to bake the potato in the oven, microwave it until it is soft then simply add it to the Vitamix container skin and all. You can also save time if you happened to bake potatoes for dinner. Simply save a small one in the refrigerator and make your cream of celery soup within the next few days. In almost the time it takes to open a can of condensed celery soup, reconstitute it and cook it, you can have 2 quarts of fresh celery soup for the entire family.